mini-dv shortfilm

I shot this with a Sony DCR-HC85E camera in my first year at the RITS filmschool in Brussels, Belgium. That's almost 3 years ago, and I quit the second year:). But after a little "life"-school I'm at it again, different filmschool now. I was wondering what some pro's have to say about this.

It was shot somewhat unprepared, and you'll definitly see a mistake here and there, but it was more about content.

Wow.
I never thought that I would see a movie that I would consider alright where every shot is negative black and white, the camera moves erratically hand held from object to object and where there is a section that repeats the same five shots for almost a minute with a receipt printer in the background. But the truth is that the movie works really well and the end is pretty effective. Compared to other movies where this sort of story is involved it felt very real and nothing took me out of the story, meaning that the entire film worked.

I knew what I was doing with the screenplay. But the shots were really crummy (about 3 days of last minute shooting), and I noticed that during the editing. I knew I had to make it look really surreal somehow, and the shots didn't do that for me. So I decided to consistently go overboard, and it worked out okay. So luck is definitely a factor here

This year I have to make this ridiculously short timed "film" (max 3min), but with far better gear. I'm really aiming for perfection in the shots this time, preparing is the key to that. I want to keep exploring the same style too. We'll just have to see, it's always a learning experience.

Euhm, it was a long time ago, but everything was edited with an older version of Adobe. There was this effect called "extract" which gave it the final look. It's possible that I first converted everything to black&white... I don't remember actually:). There was defenitly some playing around with "color balance" and "contrast&brightness" before I gave it the extract effect.

As for the black gunner, there's two reasons I can think of. First of all he was dressed intirely in black, with a black bandana up to the nose and his face painted black with a burned wine cork:). A second reason could be the fact that the ending scene was the only scene shot on a clouded day; the sky was completely white. And maybe, with all the effects I added, the gunner looked a lot darker. The sky at the ending scene is completely black for example, because of the extract effect.

Its a good film. You definately have something to say other than just pretty pictures. But (i know its nitpik) but its too wordy could be a good book (notes from underground) but try to put the words into pictures.

I know, you're absolutely right. It's really hard for me to find that ballance. Looking at it now, I only find a few nice shots and didn't give enough thought to the possibilities of the camera. All the more reason to keep searching for new angles.

The abundance of words also has to do with the fact that there was a 7 minute time limit, and I really had to compress everything untill I had 9 minutes. But I know what you mean^^, often the images feel too detached to what the character is experiencing. The voice acting makes it appealing enough so you can make your own interpretation with the imagery I believe. But the power of the image is somewhat left unexplored, and that's what's driving me now

I know, you're absolutely right. It's really hard for me to find that ballance. Looking at it now, I only find a few nice shots and didn't give enough thought to the possibilities of the camera. All the more reason to keep searching for new angles.

The abundance of words also has to do with the fact that there was a 7 minute time limit, and I really had to compress everything untill I had 9 minutes. But I know what you mean^^, often the images feel too detached to what the character is experiencing. The voice acting makes it appealing enough so you can make your own interpretation with the imagery I believe. But the power of the image is somewhat left unexplored, and that's what's driving me now

Yeah, i thought my critique was superfluous only because I know it was the time restriction that made you do it like this. The script is really good, I loved the ending. The voice over is a really tricky thing to get right, some of my favorite narration is in A CLockwork Orange, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas. I think it's even harder than acting since you don't have the obvious advantage of showing emotion through body language. But it was nice try. keep it up.